Workplace Design and Bias: Learn It 1—Bias and Discrimination in the Workforce

  • Identify types of bias and discrimination that occur in the workplace
  • Describe the laws designed to prevent bias and discrimination in hiring
  • Describe the field of human factors psychology

Bias and Discrimination in Hiring

In an ideal hiring process, organizations would generate accurate job analyses reflecting position requirements and assess candidates’ knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to identify the best person for the job. In practice, hiring decisions are often influenced by factors unrelated to job qualifications.

Sources of Bias in Selection

Research has identified numerous factors that can bias hiring decisions. Interviewers tend to favor candidates who are similar to themselves (Bye, Horverak, Sandal, Sam, & Vijver, 2014) and may unconsciously discriminate based on regional accents (Rakić, Steffens, & Mummendey, 2011). Physical characteristics also influence decisions: Agerström and Rooth (2011) found that hiring managers with stronger implicit weight bias were less likely to invite overweight candidates for interviews, even when qualifications were identical. Meta-analytic research confirms that physical attractiveness benefits candidates across hiring, promotion, and performance evaluations, though these effects have diminished somewhat over recent decades (Hosoda, Stone-Romero, & Coats, 2003).

Persistent Discrimination

Despite decades of anti-discrimination laws, research documents ongoing bias in hiring. A comprehensive 2023 meta-analysis synthesizing correspondence experiments (studies where researchers send identical resumes with names signaling different demographic groups) conducted between 2005 and 2020 found significant hiring discrimination across multiple protected categories. The research confirms that candidates with names associated with racial minorities consistently receive fewer callbacks than equally qualified candidates with white-associated names.

This discrimination persists even as workforce demographics shift. In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 88,531 new discrimination charges—a 9% increase over the previous year. The agency secured nearly $700 million for victims of discrimination, the highest monetary recovery in recent history.

Legal Protections Against Discrimination

Some hiring criteria relate to group membership rather than individual abilities. Unless membership in a group directly affects job performance, decisions based on group membership constitute discrimination. Federal, state, and local laws in the United States prohibit hiring based on various group-membership criteria.

What Employers Cannot Ask

Many people are surprised to learn how many questions are legally off-limits in job interviews. Potential employers generally cannot ask about:

  • Age (for candidates 40 and older)
  • Marital or family status (including whether you have children or plan to)
  • National origin or citizenship (though employers can ask if you’re legally authorized to work)
  • Religion
  • Race or ethnicity
  • Disability status (though employers can ask whether you can perform essential job functions)
  • Pregnancy (though employers can discuss job requirements)
  • Genetic information

Employers also cannot ask questions that might indirectly reveal this information, such as where you were born, who you live with, or what year you graduated high school.

Key Federal Protections

Several federal laws form the foundation of employment discrimination protection:

  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), and national origin.
  • The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) protects workers 40 and older from discrimination based on age.
  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations.
  • The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) prohibits discrimination based on genetic information, including family medical history.
  • The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), enacted in 2023, requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for workers with limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, unless doing so would cause undue hardship.

We’ll take a closer look at some of these laws soon.

Photograph A shows the side profile of a pregnant woman. Photograph B shows a cross, a star of David, and a crescent displayed next to one another. Photograph C shows an older person with a cane walking down the street.
Figure 1. (a) Pregnancy, (b) religion, and (c) age are some of the criteria on which hiring decisions cannot legally be made. (credit a: modification of work by Sean McGrath; credit b: modification of work by Ze’ev Barkan; credit c: modification of work by David Hodgson)